March is Red Cross Month

Lewis and Clark Blood Services Region

March 5, 2013

In a tradition dating back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the American Red Cross celebrates March as Red Cross Month. It is a great time to celebrate and recognize the Everyday Heroes in our community—those who help others in their neighborhoods, down the street or across the country.

March has been known as Red Cross Month across the country since 1943 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued the declaration in support of American Red Cross efforts to raise funds for World War II. During Red Cross Month, and all year long, the Red Cross is present in communities across the United States to provide relief to disaster victims and to ensure a stable blood supply for patients and hospitals.

So how can you celebrate Red Cross Month? You can uncover your inner hero and support the Red Cross by giving blood, volunteering or making a financial contribution. Each and every day, people in our communities need blood. In fact, about every two seconds someone, somewhere in the United States needs a lifesaving blood product. The only way to meet this need is by the continued generosity of volunteer blood donors.

There is no substitute for volunteer blood donors. Nothing can replace the blood that helps a new mother after a difficult delivery, or the platelets that aide patients undergoing chemotherapy, or the plasma used to treat a person burned in a fire.